Bending oblong shapes



Nov. 4, 1958 G. c. GRAHAM, JR

BENDING OBLONG SHAPES Filed March 2., 19s."s

R O T N. E v W ATTORNEY Nov. 4, 1958 G. c. GRAHAM, JR 2,853,831

BENDING OBLONG SHAPES Filed March 2. 195s 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent 8 BENDING OBLONG SHAPES George C. Graham, Jr., Colonia, N. J., assigno'r to Perlslonal Products Corporation, a corporation of New ersey Application March 2, 1953, Serial No. 339,652 12 Claims. (Cl. 128285),

This invention relates to tampons and more particularly to tampons of the type used during the menstrual period. The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved catamenial tampon lacking the disadvantages of tampons of the prior art.

Experience with earlier tampons has shown that they fail in many cases and under a variety of conditions prior to absorbing any substantial amount of fluid. Prior tampons are frequently bypassed by fluid, and this amounts to failure of the tampon for all practical purposes. Other tampons stop the fluid to a moderate degree only some time after insertion, but exhibit strong leakage immediately after insertion and, in fact, rely upon the contact of the tampon with the leaking fluid for the later stoppage. The tampon of this invention stops leakage of fluid from the moment of the insertion and it thus is clearly superior to the earlier tampons referred to above.

Even though the tampon of the invention is thus adapted to seal the vaginal passage completely against flow of fluid from the moment of insertion, it does undergo expansion after insertion. Any tendency for bypassing of the tampon that might be caused by a change in its position is thus corrected. In addition, the tampon of this invention expands mostly lengthwise and therefore does not inhibit withdrawal of the tampon, as

has been the case with tampons wherein substantially all of the expansion was sidewise of the tampon and very little, if any, expansion lengthwise of the tampon. The new tampon is more flexible than tampons of the prior art and accordingly conforms better to the outlines of the body cavities than these tampons. This feature makes this tampon more comfortable for the user. The new tampon uses amounts of absorbent fiber that are identical or very closely similar to the amounts of such fiber used in the prior art and thus its advantages are not accomplished at the expense of economy.

A further important advantage of the new tampon lies in the fact that in use it touches the top, bottom and all sides of the vagina thus insuring secure fit and preventing accidental loss of the tampon, while prior art tampons would touch only two or perhaps three sides of the vagina being thus much more liable to accidental loss.

Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved tampon. It is a further object of the invention to provide a tampon that is comfortable to wear. Yet a further object of the invention is the provision of a tampon that is thoroughly flexible. Other objects of the invention are to provide menstrual tampons that in use stay in secure contact with the walls of the vagina and are thus securely in place and not liable to accidental displacement, and a further most important object of the invention is the provision of a tampon providing secure protection against accidental leakage and substantially complete stoppage of fluid flow from the opening. Yet another object of the inven- Fatented Nov. 4, 1958 ice tion is the economical provision of a catamenial tampon having the foregoing properties.

Still further objects of the invention will appear from the following disclosure particularly when considered in conjunction with the several accompanying drawings, wherein similar numerals refer to similar parts through-' out the several views shown and which is furnished. by way of illustration only rather than to limitthe scope of the invention. In these accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a cross section of the lower part of the female torso taken on the plane of the vagina and show= mg the tampon of the invention securely in place shortly after insertion;

Fig. 2 is a cross section similar to Fig. 1 illustrating the same type of tampon in a typical position some time after the insertion has taken place;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a material for construction of applicants tampon folded and lightly tied prior to formation of the actual tampon;

Fig. 4 is a side view of applicants tampon;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing applicants tampon in position in a typical applicator;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating a material for construction of applicants tampon folded and lightly tied prior to formation of the actual tampon constructed in accordance with one of the phases of-applicants invention and constituting a different embodiment thereof;

Fig. 7 is a sideview similar to Fig. 4 illustrating the embodiment of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a side view similar to Fig. 7 illustrating another embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 9 is a side view similar to Fig. 8 illustrating another embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 10 is similar to Fig. 9 illustrating another embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 11 is a perspective View similar to Fig. 6 illustrating yet another embodiment of the invention.

In accordance with the invention a catamenial tampon is provided having an oblong cylindrical shape composed of highly compressed absorbent fibers arranged to make the tampon non-resiliently bendable when a relatively slight force is applied to its end.

A typical tampon 20 of the invention is composed of a web 21 of textile fibers 22. The web 21, as shown in Fig. 3 is attached to Withdrawal cord 23, folded and compressed substantially entirely lengthwise from end to end into the oblong cylindrical shape 24 so that withdrawal cord 23 extends from the tampon at one end.

The term highly compressed for purposes of this application means compressed to such an extent that the tampon does not return to its original uncompressed size, but maintains a size of less than forty percent its original length, and preferably substantially less than forty percent its original size, particularly if the original uncompressed tampon has loose unmatted fluffy fibers.

The term nonresiliently bendable for purposes of this application means lacking snap back to its original shape after a slight bending of the tampon.

Using a cotton tampon slightly less than two inches in length, from about seven sixteenths to about five eighths of an inch in diameter, and weighing at least aboutthirty-five to forty-five grains, good flexibility is obtained at a Gurley reading of less than 2.8. Gurley the edge of the pointer in the vertical part of the arm.

The tampon is positioned in the clamp with one and force is applied to the end 1 one quarter inches of its length extending below the lower edge of the clamp.

In the case of the tampon embodiments particularly illustratedin Figs. 3 and 4 the fibers are oriented to extend lengthwise of the tampon. Orientation is obtained-for example by carding. Having-the fibers oriented-in this lengthwise manner permitsbetter bending of the-tampons sidewise andalso results in greater extensibility of-the tampon lengthwise than sidewise.

In this embodiment as in the other discussed hereinafterthe fibers used may be of any desired type although the more highly absorbent fibers are preferred, particularly fibers such as cotton, rayon, paper,-hemp wool and nylon. Combinations of suitable'fibers and also-other additions to the tampon such as medicaments, deodorants, lubricants, etc. are within the spirit of the invention. Preferred fibers are, of course, those having a relatively high individual fiber length preferably atleast about one half an inch.

The tampons of the invention are used preferably in conjunction with applicators, for instance, applicator 30 illustrated in Fig. 5 and composed of a holdingtube 31 holding a tampon 20 prior to application and a; plunger tube 32 adapted to bear against one end of tampon 20. Incidentally the withdrawal cord 23 protrudes from the plunger tube prior to application of the tampon.

The tampon described so far possesses numerous advantages over earlier tampons. As is best illustrated in Fig. 1, the tampon bends freely on insertion when its end hits against the cervix or the walls of the vagina and retains its bend due to its quality of non-resiliency even after the initial pressure of insertion has been relaxed. In view of the bendable nature of the tampon it effectively plugs the passages of the vagina, and is comfortable to wear as it conforms readily to body contours.

Sometime after insertion contact of the tampon with fluid causes its fibers to relax further and it swells. Due to the nature of the improved tampon and due to the lengthwise orientation of its fibers extension of the tampon is mostly in the longitudinal direction and only to a very slight extent in the direction of the width of the tampon.- This results in even better sealing ofthe passages and plugs leakage further. 7

Even when saturated with fluid, the tampon is highly coherent particularly due to its high degree of compression and the orentation of its fibers and it can be withdrawn readily without splitting into parts and without substantiall loss of fibers.

While the tampon described above constitutes a preferred form of the invention there are other embodiments employing some of the important features of the invention and related to it.

Fig. 6 illustrates a tampon similar in all respects to the tampon of- Figs. 3 and 4 except that the basic web 61 is divided into a plurality of parts, for instance parts 62 and 63, securely but flexibly and distantly attached to each other, for instance, by means of a cord such as 64 that may be an extension of the basic withdrawal cord 23. The distance 65 between the individual parts 62 and 63 of web 61 should preferably be sufficient to permit lengthwise bending and compression of the tampon during formation into tampon 66 without interference of one web piece with the smooth bending of the other andwithout extensive overlap. Compression of the tampon in this manner produces a socket or knuckle 67 where one web piece 62 meets the other 63 and thus further improves the ability of the tampon to bend on insertion. It should be noted that the presence of the knuckle which is usually in a conical shape as illustrated does not detract from the ability of each individual web part to bend and in view of the highly compressed nature of the tampon some resilient bending is observed in each of the web parts even in the multi-part tampons, particularly if the fibers are oriented lengthwise as illustrated.

Fig. 8 illustrates another embodiment of the invention in all respects similar to the embodiment of Fig. 7 except that more than one knuckle joint is present as illustrated at 71 and 72 in the figure.

A further extension of the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 is illustrated in Fig. 9 which illustrates a series of individual disks, e. g., paper disks or cotton disks 80-90, etc. which comprise a tampon composed of highly compressed, highly absorbent fibers, and which are absorbent material.

held together in a manner similar to the manner illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, for instance, by string. The bending of this type of tampon is facilitated by sidewise slippage of the individual disks against each other.

Fig. 10. illustrates another embodiment of the invention wherein nonresilient bending and extensibility is obtained in a tampon composed of highly compressed, highly absorbent fibers by helically winding a strip of During the bending adjacent layers of thespirally wound strip slip near the overlap 101. In the embodiment of, the invention illustrated in Fig. 11 individual swatches 111, 112, 113 and 114 are held togethereitherby tying or by sewing as illustrated at 115 side by side forming one multi-part tampon 110. Joints are. formed where the individual swatchesmeet each other andno orientation of the fiber is required. This particular embodiment of the invention does not necessarily result in the relatively high lengthwise swelling of the tampon which in this embodiment depends entirely on the particular method of manufacture and the fiber orientation selected.

A number of the preferred embodiments of the invention havebeen described. However, it should be understood. that. all variations are included within its spirit.

I claim as my invention:

1. A catamenial tampon having an oblong cylindrical shape and composed of highly compressed, highly absorbent fibers arranged in the shape of a helically wound strip. of absorbent material to provide slippage between adjacent and consecutive layers so as to make the tampon nonresiliently bendable when a relatively slight force is applied to its end.

2. A catamenial tampon having an oblong cylindrical shape composed of highly compressed, highly absorbent fibers forming several parts of a web, said parts being securely and flexibly attached to each other and arranged to make the tampon nonresiliently bendable when a relatively slight force is applied to its end, and having flexible sockets where one of said parts meets the adjacent one adapted to increase bendability of the tampon on insertion.

3. A tampon according to claim 2 wherein said sockets are conical.

4. A catamenial tampon having an oblong cylindrical shape composed of highly compressed, highly absorbent fibers forming several parts of a web, and having a fiber weight of at least 35 grains and sufficient flexibility to give a Gurley Stiffness Reading below 2.8, said parts each being in the shape of a disk and being securely and flexibly attached to each other and arranged to make the tampon nonresiliently bendable when a relatively slight force is applied to its end.

5. A compressed cylindrical tampon of the type described compressed mainly longitudinally and having a fiber weight of at least thirty-five grains and sufiicient flexibility to give a Gurley Stiffness Reading below 2.8, said tampon comprising a plurality of parts securely and flexibly attached to each other to make said tampon nonresiliently-bendable when a relatively slight force is applied to its end.

6. A compressed cylindrical tampon of the type describedv compressed mainly longitudinally and having a fiber weight of at least thirty-five grains and sufficient flexibility to give a Gurley Stiffness Reading below 2.8, said fibers being highly compressed and highly absorbent and forming several parts of a web, said parts being securely and flexibly attached to each other and arranged to make the tampon nonresiliently bendable when a relatively slight force is applied to its end and having a flexible socket where one of said parts meets an adjacent part adapted to increaze bendability of the tampon on insertion.

7. A tampon according to claim 6 wherein the flexible socket is conical.

8. A tampon according to claim 5 wherein the plurality of parts comprise individual swatches.

9. A catamenial tampon comprising highly absorbent fibers highly compressed into an oblong cylindrical shape, adjacent parts of said tampon being attached to each other and being movable with respect to each other, said tampon being non-resiliently bendable when a relatively slight force is applied to its end.

10. A tampon according to claim 9 wherein compression was applied primarily to its ends.

11. A tampon according to claim 10 wherein the fibers are arranged to extend predominantly lengthwise of the tampon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,731,665 Huebsch Oct. 15, 1929 1,964,911 Haas July 2, 1934 2,264,586 Ross Dec. 2, 1941 2,487,200 Trager Nov. 8, 1949 2,652,056 Lay Sept. 15, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 805,662 Germany May 25, 1951 

